Woodcliff Lake sergeant sues borough and retiring chief

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The municipality and retiring Police Chief Anthony Jannicelli are being sued by Woodcliff Lake Police Sgt. James Foley because Foley says he was harassed and mistreated by Jannicelli while the borough ignored the mistreatment.(Photo: NorthJersey.com/File)

A Woodcliff Lake police sergeant is suing the borough and former Police Chief Anthony Jannicelli, alleging that Jannicelli wrongly opened an internal affairs investigation, caused him emotional stress, and damaged his reputation as a police officer.

The suit, filed in December by Sgt. James Foley, also alleges the borough allowed Jannicelli to mistreat Foley and never conducted an investigation about the matter.

Foley is seeking $350,000 in damages, inclusive of punitive damages, according to his attorney, Patrick Toscano.

Jannicelli retired on Dec. 31, after a 40-year career with the Woodcliff Lake Police Department. The complaint was filed a few weeks before that date.

Jannicelli said he disagreed with the allegations, but declined to comment further. He said he was served with the complaint on Dec. 10 and turned it over to borough officials.

Borough Administrator Tomas Padilla said Ian Doris will be the attorney representing the borough and Jannicelli in the case.

The complaint says Foley's "nightmarish debacle with the Woodcliff Lake Police Department" began in 2010 when "Jannicelli wrongfully authorized the opening of an internal affairs investigation because the plaintiff took a single sick day and was not at home for the last three hours of that shift."

According to the complaint, Jannicelli "harbored animosity/enmity" toward him that other officers saw and described as "perplexing" and unwarranted.

The complaint also alleges that Jannicelli tried to drive Foley out of the department by promoting junior officers with less experience to the rank of sergeant ahead of Foley.

In 2014, the complaint alleges, Jannicelli told Foley if he talked to any council member, "Jannicelli would terminate him."

According to the complaint, Jannicelli wrongfully and illegally suspended him in 2014 and again in 2018, didn't allow him to attend training sessions for sergeants, accused him of "double-dipping" with his side business and accused him of "giving the borough" illegal discounts in order to gain "favors" from the borough.

"Jannicelli did not stop. Indeed he was empowered by the fact that Woodcliff Lake never stepped in to stop or investigate the fashion in which he acted toward the plaintiff," the complaint alleges.

Padilla said he is not aware of any previous complaints about Jannicelli's behavior.

"No one ever made any allegations," he said.

John Burns was sworn in as police chief on Tuesday, Jan. 1, replacing Jannicelli.